Intercity freight train rail service set to debut
On December 2 Trainose will launch a special commercial freight train service from Athens to Thessaloniki as provided for in the contract signed with 25 member-companies of the Federation of Hellenic Enterprises in order to have their commodities transported.
The new service will provide the Greek railway operator with revenues of some 5 million euros per year when it is in full operation. Currently, some 600 trucks travel between Athens and Thessaloniki every day and Trainose is aiming at undertaking a load that would amount to 60 of those trucks.
The cost of the freight train will be considerably reduced once the works currently under way on the electric rail traction system are completed.
At the moment the section from Athens to Domokos in central Greece has a single track and requires diesel-powered engines, while the rest of the route to Thessaloniki has electric rail traction. Consequently trains have to change locomotives, thereby increasing travel times.
